Tomatoes

With this rain, it willl crack ripe tomatoes. ASAP get the ripe tomatoes of the vines. Yellow or green tomatoes should still be OK.

Or put up plastic over the tomato plants for the next month.

Rain

Rain is good for the soil.

Be aware that the increased rain brings on slugs and snails.
Rain can cause the ripe grapes to crack so watch the grapes. IF they begin to crack, process them ASAP.

Aphid problem

Having been out in the garden today, the aphids on the cauliflower and broccoli were unbelievable. You can use a strong stream of water or get some insecticidal soap. They are not harming anything but the heads are full of aphids, so cleaning is needed before eating.

Weeds are really coming on strong so keep the hoe handy.

Enjoy the wild blackberries and the fall golden raspberries.

Fruit and grapes

Dry apples and plums.
Time to juice the grapes.
Control the moles and gophers - concussion or hitting the ground near the dirt mound with a shovel around 7:00 am works well. If all else fails, use traps.
Cole crops are still doing very well.
Tomatoes are still ripening--go sunshine :)

To Does

Start removing old plant debris and putting it into your compost pile.

Continue harvesting. If you have cut cabbage, broccoli or cauliflower heads, thin out the many heads that have started to grow so you only have 1-2 larger heads.

As you remove plants, weeds will move in. Cover the soil with cardboard, newspaper, compost or sawdust to keeps weeds under control.

Compost

When the rain starts, cover the compost pile.

Mix in green materials, dry leaves, straw, some dirt and a little water.

Mix every few weeks.

Post summer and pre winter garden

The cauliflower, brocolli, celery, cabbage are coming on really nicely.
Still time to plant transplants of brocolli, cauliflower and chard.
Plant garlic.

Hazelnuts are falling. Roast at 105 degrees for 24 hours.

Keep the weeds under control.

Lime the lawn, 80 pounds per 1000 sq feet if you have moss on sections of lawn.

Weather

Be aware that the high temps can cause some burning of plants if the temps are above 90 degrees.

On line again

As a new Blogger, the spam started to appear so I had to shut down the previous site. Hopefully what I have learned will keep that from happening.

Hints: Be wary of he cool weather and watch the temps to protect green tomatoes. Anything below 40 degrees will need covering.

Plums and apples are ripe now and dry very nicely and quite quickly.

Please spread the word that the site has changed to:

http://osuextensionlanecounty.blogspot.com

- and I will do my best to keep it spam free.

Ross

Back again

Sorry for the mess. I still am not sure the why, but I will try again. I may need to go to a different site but will see for a while.